Guild of Project Controls: Compendium | Roles | Assessment | Certifications | Membership

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Spider Project Certifications

7 replies [Last post]
Sat, 2010-03-20 20:08
Vagner Sanches Va...
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Joined: 15 Feb 2010
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@Samer Zawaydeh,


In Brazil there is the following certifications Spider Project:

SpS : Spider Project Specialist
- The Spider Project Specialist demonstrates to be master of using advance scheduling techniques and can really apply critical chain or SDPM concepts with scenarios in the tool. The user must be consultants with extensive background in PM.

SpP : Spider Project Professional
- SpP – The Spider Project Professional demonstrates ability to operate and solve, as a consultant in Project Management, modeling and support in network diagrams, and solutions with the use of resources, costs and its
performance reports. It also must have great level of project management skills.

SpA : Spider Project Administrator
- SpA – The Spider Project Administrator demonstrates the ability to operate fully the tool even not working as a project manager. It can be applied to anyone that in fact understands how to apply any the concepts the tool is
capable of, even if doesn’t understand why is it applying it.

SpU : Spider Project User
- SpU – The Spider Project User demonstrates the ability to operate the tool even not working as a project manager. The user may be anyone in the team that in fact uses network diagrams, understand the use of resources, costs and its basic controls.

More information (in Portuguese), see

I don’t know if there is such certifications in other countries.

Regards,

Vagner Sanches Vasconcelos
São Paulo - Brazil
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Replies

Sun, 2010-03-28 02:19
#1
Samer Zawaydeh
User offline. Last seen 5 years 7 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 3 Aug 2008
Posts: 1664
Groups: Civil Engineering, Regional Representatives
Dear Marcus,

Thank you for sharing the information. This sounds like a good experience and you will pick up a lot of information.

I like that there are levels, which is true to most professions. I also like the one of one approach because you get to see the actual person. Face to Face conveys at least 50% more information about the person than a paper exam.

I also think that PM is evolving because of the needs on projects. Once you have a lot of big projects, you need a lot of experienced people and modern tools. That will make things moving in the right direction.

The good thing here is that you are working with the Owner and he is responding to your questions, hence, the momentum here is high and you can benefit faster. Communication is after all over 90% in PM.

Please post a link to the books that you are publishing frequently here. The will be a good source for people to get to the information when they need it.

With kind regards,

Samer
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Sat, 2010-03-27 22:10
#2
Marcus Possi
User offline. Last seen 11 weeks 2 days ago. Offline
Joined: 27 Feb 2010
Posts: 71
Groups: Civil Engineering, Spider Project Team
Hi PP. Adding something to what Vagner has initiated in its explanation, there are some interesting points to present you as the Spider Certification SpU and SpP “ambience” in Brazil.

History:
We could say that we Brazilians were very affected by the PM virus by the 1990’s after a change in our internal national politics way of importing and exporting thins and products. New and different things were allowed to come in. I use to call it a virus because regardless the decades of civil engineering and construction works undertaken by our companies here, some of “us” discovered these PM references and decide to promote then everywhere.

First Positioning:
Instead of just copying the USA models, we started a study and a development of a series of courses (1) to support the real needs of our engineers colleagues, where focus was centered in results and not only in papers. Since PMI represent the apices of PM standards and it was broadcasted over the USA and Europe, we used well known tools like MSproject and Primavera, this last one considerably lesser, as the unique tools to support the methodology we developed to enlighten our students’ works.

Evaluating:
It is very well known that MSP has a lot of bugs, and its 2007 version was detected in miscalculating the costs and EVM official standard results. With a lot of sole efforts we could overtake it with 4 publications, always presenting how to do, and how to avoid traps and dark holes. We were not successful contacting MS and no answer from MS was received to consider and fix their bugs with a solution or any technical compensation: instead they launched MSP 2010. This 2010 version (we have tested it) of course with the same mistakes the former had.

PS: We were not allowed to certificate our students in MSproject, although they are able to pass the Orange Belt (IIL) and MCTS (MS) tests easily. Our students work on their real projects and problems with an individual tutor online attention and dedication.

Evolution :
We knew Mr Liberzon, and Spider Project by April 2009 (thanks a lot to Peter Mello), and after some talk and tests we decided to adopt the Spider Project as a solution and not just as a tool. Moving the main ideas of our individual and Distance Learning System courses, monitored by real tutors, we got the Spider Team authorization to be an educational authorized center to certify our students in Spider Project as a supporter for PM needs. The application (Spider Project) has features never ever imagined by people who develop software, but accomplishes to the real needs of our practical and everyday limited resource projects.

Spider course has 12 four-hours weekly classes presenting PM techniques + Spider’s features and ideas; at least a five-hours week set of homework to be done on a real and individual project on PMI Standards; and a 20 minutes personal video answer produced by our online tutors where the students may verify their “goods and bads”. There is a book, published by Ciencia Moderna Publisher (e-book) 1st edition, and by may we are intending to have the second edition ready by June (probably in english language too - by PMI a volunteers work in Rio de Janeiro).

The certification covers the project physical and economic planning and controlling (module 1 and 2). It leads the student to SpU and SpP.

SpU – User: able to work not too heavy on PM, but firm on Spider Project
SpP – Professional: professional not only in Spider Project but with knowledge in Practical and conceptual PM jobs.

We are studying how to promote a certification without classes, just hard tutored work and video-classes.

(1) - PM short courses (2004-2010) – PM pos-graduations (2006-2009), PM professional courses under Distance Learning System (2007-2010), MSProject (2004-2010), Primavera P3.1 (2006-2009), @Risk (2006-2009), SpiderProject (2009-2010) ) and some book publications ( 14 at all from 2004 – 2010)

Best regards,
Marcus Possi
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
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Sat, 2010-03-27 18:33
#3
Vagner Sanches Va...
User offline. Last seen 7 years 50 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 15 Feb 2010
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Hi Samer and Alex,

For SpP, there are no multiple choice tests.
There are only 12 classes, four-hours each, weekly to present PM techniques, Spider’s features and ideas.

During the course, all students must develop a real and individual project on PMI Standards. This expends about more 5 hours per week.

Works this way:
1ª) The teacher explains about project management, Spider Project and how to apply best practices in the tool;

2º) At home, students answer questions about theoretical PM and develop your real project. When there is doubt, there is a discussion forum;

3º) Students send their answers and projects for evaluation of Tutor;

4º) Tutor corrects and comments on the exercises and projects, developing a video (feedback);

This sequence occurs in all classes

The Spider Project Certification is still little known in Brazil, has less than a year that started.
I feel that I reach another level in PM after this certification.


Vagner S. Vasconcelos
São Paulo
Brazil
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Fri, 2010-03-26 03:45
#4
Samer Zawaydeh
User offline. Last seen 5 years 7 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 3 Aug 2008
Posts: 1664
Groups: Civil Engineering, Regional Representatives
Dear Vagner,

Thank you for the valuable information. Sorry I did not reply before.

Can you share your experience about the test. Maybe you can be a coach and mentor to PP members. Tell us how you did it and maybe others can benefit as well. What is the added value that the certification gave you and how did it enchance your expertise.

Thank you again. Looking forward to your contribution.

With kind regards,

Samer
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Fri, 2010-03-26 01:20
#5
Alex Prosnitsky
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Joined: 25 Mar 2010
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Vagner, could you present some questions and test?
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Thu, 2010-03-25 22:05
#6
Vagner Sanches Va...
User offline. Last seen 7 years 50 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 15 Feb 2010
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Hi Alex,

The developer of certification is the partner of the Spider Project Team in Brazil (X25 informatica firm) with a local partner (Ecthos CD firm).


The test is practical in the spider project and theoretical questions about project management, for SpP.


Regards,

Vagner S. Vasconcelos
São Paulo
Brazil


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Thu, 2010-03-25 08:51
#7
Alex Prosnitsky
User offline. Last seen 14 years 3 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 25 Mar 2010
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It’s very interesting.

There no such any certification in Russia or Ukraine. It’s a little pity.

Who is developer of certification? What kind of question?
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